According to the Christian Post, several North Carolina churches have cut their ties with Surry Baptist Association over the group’s decision to expel a church for having a female pastor.
First Baptist Church of Mount Airy voted overwhelmingly to withdraw from the association due to the expulsion of nearby Flat Rock Baptist Church for appointing the Rev. Bailey Edwards Nelson as senior pastor.
Piney Grove Baptist Church of Mount Airy also decided to leave the association, with an unanimous vote taken last week.
“In our congregation, and in several other congregations, there was strong disagreement with the action, the biblical interpretation given for the action, and the way the issue was handled,” said Roger Gilbert, pastor of First Baptist Church, in a statement.
“The whole process was open and respectful of all. We now plan to move forward, leaving this behind us, working in partnership with those churches who want to work with us.”
The Rev. Bailey Edwards Nelson, the pastor of Flat Rock Baptist Church whose appointment began the controversy, told The Christian Post on Wednesday that the churches leaving the association based their vote on more than the SBA’s decision to expel Flat Rock.
“Members of both churches were bothered not only by the SBA’s stance against women serving as pastors, but also by the way in which the matter was handled,” said Nelson.
via Christian News.
//
For these churches, the ‘fellowship test’ was broken because of the woman pastor issue, but in the opposite way you would think.
What keeps your church from working with other churches? Come on… you have a list… and you might be embarrassed to say what’s on it.
Do you work with other churches in your city? If so how?
And when do you say no?
And when does it get to a point where you say… you just do your own thing and leave us out of it?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Here’s an interesting article written by Craig Keener at the AG Enrighment Journal giving some input on what Keener things the Apostle Paul really thought about women in ministry. Here’s how Keener starts out…
The question of a woman’s role in ministry is a pressing concern for today’s church. It is paramount first, because of our need for the gifts of all the members God has called to serve the Church. The concern, however, has extended beyond the Church itself. Increasingly, secular thinkers attack Christianity as against women and thus irrelevant to the modern world.
Increasingly, secular thinkers attack Christianity as against women and thus irrelevant to the modern world.
The Assemblies of God and other denominations birthed in the Holiness and Pentecostal revivals affirmed women in ministry long before the role of women became a secular or liberal agenda.1 Likewise, in the historic missionary expansion of the 19th century, two-thirds of all missionaries were women. The 19th-century women’s movement that fought for women’s right to vote originally grew from the same revival movement led by Charles Finney and others who advocated the abolition of slavery. By contrast, those who identified everything in the Bible’s culture with the Bible’s message were obligated both to accept slavery and reject women’s ministry.2
For Bible-believing Christians, however, mere precedent from church history cannot settle a question; we must establish our case from Scripture. Because the current debate focuses especially around Paul’s teaching, we will examine his writings after we have briefly summarized other biblical teachings on the subject.
You can read the rest of the article here.So… what do YOU think? What would the Apostle Paul say today about our infighting about the topic of women in ministry? Would it be a big deal to him?

Forget about the whole women in ministry debate that we’ve been having here… let’s break it down some. What do you think about girls in ministry? Cute… little… girls… with white bows in their hair.
HT: TheResurgence.com / Watch, especially at about the three and a half minute point…
If you’re against women in ministry (notice… I’ve not EVER said where I fall on this issue!)…You CAN’T be against this, can you?
At what point would this girl’s standing behind a pulpit telling this story become ‘sinful’?
Please don’t blast me for asking a stupid question. I’m serious.
If you’re against females in leadership, do you have a problem with this? Would you if this girl was 15, or 21? Why/how do you make the determination?
I’m not trying to be flippant… I’m just, seriously, generously, wondering…

We’ve had some good discussions this week about the role of women in ministry. Â The blog OutofUr has been taking a look at this topic this past week, and today they have posted this video by famed theologian N. T. Wright. Â Take a look and let’s hear your response to this one…
(You can check out our other video entries this week on this subject here and here)
What do you think? Â Does N. T. Wright’s argument make sense to you? Â Why or why not?

Yesterday, I posted a video by Bill Kynes about women in ministry. Â It got mixed reviews here. Â Bill gave the standard complimentarian view. Â Now take a look at this point of view that was also posted this week over at OutofUr.org. Â See which resonates more with you and how you view scripture:
Which view do YOU take? Â Or maybe you fall somewhere in the middle?What do you think? Â And WHY?

Out of Ur is doing a series of posts on Women in Ministry. Â In this video they share, Bill Kynes shares the complementarian understanding of the sexes:
via Out of Ur | Conversations for Ministry Leaders.
Agree or disagree? Â Why?